COVID-19 has transformed people’s lives on an unprecedented scale, impacting nearly every industry. But the pandemic has not slowed innovation—it’s amplifying it to historic levels. The global disruption has caused organizations across industries to rethink their traditional business functions and seek opportunities for growth amid a remote commerce climate. Organizations are making strategic investments in digital platforms to serve customers through personalized, interactive and connected experiences powered by artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
The reason for the increased demand for these new tools can be found through examination of the challenges businesses are facing. Prior to the pandemic, commerce was occurring through many different channels: in-store, phone and online. Today, the demand for products and services that can’t be bought online has declined dramatically. A 2020 Kommando Tech article shows that 1.3 million companies that use e-commerce in the U.S., nearly 1 million of which are marketplace resellers. This suggests that only about 300,000 businesses have native e-commerce operations that they can manage to counteract the adverse impacts of the pandemic. Brick-and-mortar based businesses now face an urgent mandate to introduce digital commerce, in order to maintain viability in 2020 and relevance in 2021 and beyond.
Many organizations were online but ill-equipped to scale operations to keep pace with increased online orders and the associated influx of site traffic. They have been bogged down by outdated architecture, data fragmentation and corresponding analytical challenges. They need help supporting customers across channels, products and touchpoints. As these challenges mount, the customer experience erodes.
For companies who already have strong digital capabilities, COVID-19 is overloading internal software development teams. Increased demands, heightened urgency and unprecedented complexity have made it difficult for these critical teams to keep pace with the demands of the business. In the context of revenue risk, it is harder than ever to fund new initiatives, and hire, train and manage the new teams that are required to get the work done right and on time.
In the face of these challenges, businesses are increasingly turning to outsource product development (OPD) providers for help. These providers can nimbly ramp up teams to deliver business impacts for clients, deploying solutions across all modern tools and technologies: Cloud-based development platforms, digital commerce capabilities, AI and machine learning, UI/UX and data analytics. They also provide coding and development support to streamline code architecture to eliminate bloat that slows sites down and makes them difficult to maintain.
The businesses that make the necessary investments in digital engineering are going to find themselves in a great position post-COVID, with new tools and strategies to boost productivity and profitability.
As a product engineering and digital innovation company, Encora helps clients develop and integrate digital platforms and tools. We organize and analyze data, optimize user interface and experience, manage development projects, enhance online shopping and improve communication. We’re committed to accelerating the success of our expanding client base by working with them to deliver market-leading solutions. The secret to Encora’s continued growth—despite the pandemic—is that we are singularly focused on delivering and accelerating our clients’ success.
To learn more about Encora and how we can help you build a strong and thriving digital environment for your customers, visit us at www.encora.com or send us a message:
